Sweeter Than Fiction
by 12naley23
Summary: Okay, so I decided to do something completely different and crazy: A fic of James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz. Not sure how it will go over but please check it out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who fantasizes about these two. What happens when Joy and James meet up at the One Tree Hill convention in Paris? NO LONGER A ONE-SHOT
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I know I really really shouldn't have written this because it's so irrelevant, and I didn't have time, but I made this my main priority because this 'idea' has been haunting my brain, and the only way it'll happen is if I write it...**

**So this isn't about Nathan and Haley, it's about Joy and James. I don't know if this is against the 'rules' of fan fiction but I'm doing it anyway. I love them, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who fantasizes about them being together. **

**So basically It'll probably just be a one shot unless I change my mind... but over all it's in honor of the One Tree Hill convention in Paris this weekend. I would die if I was there, but because I can't be, I wanted to write this. **

**What happens when James and Joy meet up in Paris, and old feelings suddenly come back? Will the feelings be mutual? *Sadly, but ****_everything_**** is made up. in this fic***

**song credit: Taylor Swift (Based on her new song "Sweeter Than Fiction") **

Bethany Joy Lenz stepped off of her plane, and took in a deep breath of air. This weekend she was in Paris, France for the "Wilmington to Paris Convention", or in other words the "One Tree Hill Convention."

She smiled widely as she took in her surroundings. She always loved Paris- what girl doesn't? It's the city of love. She pushed her sun glasses down, and trotted through the International airport, with her publicist right behind her.

"Are you excited, Joy?" The red headed woman, named Sasha Meyers, asked.

"Yes!" She chuckled, and felt her heart warm. "I haven't seen everyone in forever! I miss them like crazy." Joy explained as she headed to the baggage claim.

"I checked your twitter this morning. People are dying for an interview with you and James." Sasha said offhandedly.

At the mention of Jame's name, Joy's heart unexpectedly warmed. She felt an odd sensation in her stomach, and she didn't know what it was.

_"I'm probably just hungry..."_ She thought to herself.

"People are actually crazy!" Sasha continued. "They think 'Naley' is real!"

Joy gave her best fake laugh, and rolled her eyes, "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, I know! Seriously. The best part is that people want you and James to date. They already gave you a couple name. I think it was Jethany or something. How crazy is that?"

Joy bit down on her lip, and laughed. "I thought people still think I'm 'dating' Wes?"

"Who knows." Sasha shrugged, "People need to mind their own business!"

Joy chuckled, and made an attempt to grab her large suitcase off the carousel, but as she grabbed the handle, she realized it was far to heavy to lift. Joy then noticed a tall, muscular guy climb in front of her try and pick it up. She huffed out an annoyed deep breath, and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Excuse me, that's mine!" She said in a firm tone.

The man chuckled, and lifted the suitcase with ease off of the conveyor belt, and put it on the ground.

Joy was staring at the man's arms, and she couldn't help but think that they looked familiar. She bit down on her lip when she noticed the bicep bulge when the man carried the suitcase.

She was lost in her day dream, and didn't realize the man was holding out her suitcase, and speaking to her.

"What? You don't remember me? C'mon Lenz, it hasn't been that long." The raven haired man joked.

Joy suddenly snapped out of her daze, and stared into those familiar blue eyes. She felt her heart actually stop, and her stomach got that tingly feelings again.

"James Lafferty!" She screamed, and practically leapt into his arms.

James chuckled, and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "You're acting like a crazed fan." He whispered.

Joy pulled away and crinkled her nose, "I'm sorry. It's just.. wow.. I haven't seen you in like a year! How are you?"

"I'm good... busy... but good. How are you?" James smiled widely, and stared into her large brown eyes.

Joy clapped excitedly, "I've never been better! Life's great."

James smiled genuinely and couldn't help but have his eyes wander over her body.

"You look great." James complimented, and truly meant it.

He had watched Joy evolve over the past ten years, with a new hair style every season, and new wardrobes, but she was always the same Joy. But today... wow. James was speechless. Joy was always attractive, but she never looked better than she did right now.

Joy felt herself blush-

_"What the hell? Am I blushing? I never blush!_" Joy screamed inside her mind.

"Thank you." She said with a wide smile.

James felt his knees go weak when she smiled at him. He always was fascinated by her smile. All it took was one smile from her, and he would melt. It was one of the many features he had always admired about her.

"Seriously, you look.. a,-amazing! I mean you always look amazing, but... wow." James stumbled upon his words, and felt like a complete loser. Why was he acting like this? He had known Joy practically his whole life, so why was he suddenly nervous?

Joy giggled softly, and James could once again feel his knees go weak. God.. that laugh was permanently stitched into his brain. It was a drug, and extremely intoxicating.

"Well I lost a lot of weight after I had Maria, and I once again dyed my hair." She explained.

James grinned, "How is that little munchkin?"

Joy laughed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "She's good- growing up fast, but getting cuter each and every day."

"So I'm sure she must look like you." James said before thinking.

_"Am I flirting with her?"_

Joy felt her cheeks warm, and once again let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I mean a lot of people tell me we look alike."

"Well then that's good. I'm sure she's going to be beautiful." James said, as that was the first thing to pop in his mind.

Joy's cheeks flushed crimson red.

_Is it getting hot in here?_

"Uh,, do you want to see a picture of her?" Joy suddenly asked.

"Sure." James smiled. "I'd love to."

Joy quickly grabbed her cellphone out of her jean pocket, and clicked her power button. Her lockscreen background was an image of her three year old daughter dressed as Cinderella.

James smiled when he looked at the picture. "Wow she did get big! She's adorable!"

"Thanks." Joy smiled.

"Where is she anyway?" James asked non- nonchalantly.

"My parents are watching her."

"Not Mike?" James asked with a smug look.

Joy rolled her eyes. She knew James and Mike were not fond of each other for several reasons.

"No. I don't even know where he is..." Joy said with a frown.

"I'm sorry." James said and gave her a sympathetic look. "He was an ass. You're so much better without him."

Joy chuckled, "I know."

"Seriously. What the hell did you see in him?"

"I don't know." Joy shrugged. "I'm just glad the divorce is final."

_Me too. _

"We have a lot to catch up on." James pointed out.

"I know!" Joy said with wide eyes. "we should probably get out of this airport, you know, before people notice."  
"You're embarrassed to be seen with me?" James joked.

"Obviously." Joy replied with a coy smile.

James shook his head and smiled, he and Joy walked towards the exit.

"Hey, where'd Sasha go?" Joy suddenly asked.

James furrowed his brow, "Who?"

"My publicist." Joy replied and started to glance around the busy airport. A minute later, she saw Sasha running over to them.

"Joy! There you are! I've been looking for you!"

Joy cocked her jaw and laughed softly, "Catching up with an old friend. Sorry."

Sasha's eyes instantly widened as she looked behind Joy and saw the 6"2' actor, James Lafferty.

"How did that happen?" She laughed.

James pointed to Joys' suitcase. "Miss. Lenz over here couldn't lift her suitcase so I had to go and save the day."

Joy rolled her eyes, "Right. That's what happened." She snorted sarcastically.

"It's true!"

Sasha then cleared her throat, "Well it's nice to meet you James."

"You too." James said in a friendly voice.

"Anyway, Joy, I wanted to tell you that a fan has just tweeted a picture of you in the airport, so people know that you're here." Sasha said in a hasty voice.

Joy sighed, and ran a hand through her dirty blond curls. "Okay, so what do you want to do?"

"Well I just called for a driver to take us back to the hotel." Sasha said in a sophisticated voice.

Joy glanced at James who was starring at his feet, "Oh you know what Sash, I'm going to grab a coffee with James and catch up. I'll meet you at the hotel later."

James head suddenly shot up and smiled softly.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Sasha snapped. "I mean if someone see's you together the fans are going to go crazy..."  
"Sasha, we're friends. It's really not a big deal." Joy said.

"Well I think I should come with you. I don't want to leave you alone without security." Sasha replied in a firm tone.

"We'll be fine. Besides, I doubt people will actually recognize us." Joy argued.

"Okay, fine. Suit yourself. James, are you with anyone?"

"Huh?" James asked.

"Did you bring anyone with you? Is your girlfriend here?" Sasha asked as she tapped her foot against the floor.

Joy suddenly felt her smile fade at the mention of Jame's girlfriend. She didn't know if they were still together, but now that the information had been affirmed, it was like a cloud that covered the sun. She wasn't happy.

"Oh, Eve? No she's not coming, she has work. My brother and his girlfriend are here though. I'm not sure where they went. They kind of ditched me."

"What hotel are you staying at?" Joy asked.

"Chataeu Breiar. What about you?"

"Me too!" Joy smiled. "Okay perfect, so we can grab some coffee and head back to the hotel together."

Sasha huffed, "Okay but you need to be back at 10. We have a long day tomorrow, and you need to get sleep. I'm sure you probably have jet lag. I'm going to set up an interview for you tomorrow."

"Will it be with James?" Joy asked, and couldn't help but hope.

"Uh.. I don't know. Do you want it to be?" Sasha asked.

"Yes! Well if it's okay with you..." Joy said as she turned toward James.

"Of course." He smiled. "That sounds fun."

"Okay great. See you later Sasha!" Joy said dismissively, and grabbed James' arm, as they made their way outside.

"I take it you don't really like her?" James assumed.

Joy shrugged, and smiled when James held the door open for her.

"I do like her, it's just, she can tend to be a little overwhelming from time to time. Plus, she thinks I'm like an A list celebrity but I'm not. I can leave my house and go out. I don't need a security guard."

James laughed, "I know what you mean." He replied. "Here let me take your bag." James said and gently took Joy's black suitcase, and started to lift it up.

"Thank you!" Joy smiled widely.

"Sure. So I know how much you love French Cafes, and I happen to know a really great one not to far from here. You wanna go?"

"Hell yeah!" Joy said excitedly.

"Alright cool, it's just down the street."

Joy eagerly followed James through a mass of people, and they both looked down to try and hide their identity. Luckily no one seemed to notice who they were so they were able to get to the cafe safely and quickly.

Once again, James held the door open for Joy, and she walked inside with a wide smile.

"This place is so cute!" She gushed.

"I figure you would like it." James laughed.

Just then a waitress came over and greeted them. "Bonjour!"

James and Joy looked at eachother and smiled.

"Do you know French?" James whispered.

"A little bit."

"I thought you were 'tutor girl'." James flirted.

Joy rolled her eyes, "That's Haley, not me."

"Où voulez vous asseoir?" The waitress asked.

James' eye widened, "Uh, no comprendo."

Joy let out a loud laugh, and then covered her mouth with her hands. "That's Spanish you ass!"

James smirked, "Oops."

"Peut-on s'asseoir dans le dos s'il vous plaît?" Joy asked in a french accent.

"What the hell did you just say?" James asked with a small smile.

"I asked to sit in the back."

"Oui, suivez-moi bien." The waitress smiled, and Joy beckoned James with a head nod to follow the waitress.

James took this opportunity to check out Joy from behind.

_Wait what am I doing? I have a girlfriend. Eve. And I love her. Remember? _

James never believed in cheating. In fact he highly discourages it, but for some reason, he felt right. Like this was where he was supposed to be. And besides, Joy was just an old friend... who he happened to be in love with for the first few seasons of One Tree Hill.

* * *

"So. James Lafferty." Joy said with a giant smile, and rested her chin in her hands. "What's new?"

James looked down at the menu, and then back up at Joy. He couldn't remember the last time he and Joy hung out alone, but he was really enjoying it.

"I don't know where to begin." He smiled.

"Tell me about that movie you were in!"

James shrugged, "Oh, it wasn't that big of a deal..."

"Are you kidding? It's huge!" Joy smiled, "C'mon, tell me about it."

"I don't know. What do you want to know?" James asked shyly.

"How was it to not work with me?" Joy smirked.

"It was weird. It took a while to get used to. Plus the girl I had to kiss, was so awkward. It was completely different then our- I mean when Nathan and Haley would kiss."

Joy smiled, and starred into his clear blue eyes. "Yeah. I think we were just so used to it that it was never awkward. I just feel comfortable around you"

"Me too." James smiled.

"Do you remember the first time we had to kiss?" Joy asked quietly.

"Oh god. Yeah. How can I forget? I was so nervous!"

"Seriously?" Joy asked intrigued.

"Yeah, I mean I was an eighteen year old guy, and well you were attractive, I was just nervous I'd mess up or accidentally use tongue, or get really into it..."

Joy was sipping on her water when she almost started to choke from laughing so hard.

"What?" James asked.

"That's so cute!"

James blushed and looked down at his hands. "C'mon that's really embarrassing, I was so nervous around you."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to do anything to make you hate me. I know I was the young one, so I wanted to try and be mature but the truth was that I really had a hard time controlling myself."

Joy smiled, and reached across the table to take Jame's hand in hers. "James I could never hate you."

"I know, but I never had to kiss someone on screen before so I didn't really know how to do it."

"Well it seemed like you knew what you were doing." Joy smirked.

James' eyes widened and he gulped conspicuously. "Thanks, but I wasn't a Soap Opera star like you you were." He smirked.

Haley rolled her eyes, "It was for like two years."

"How'd you do it though? I mean wasn't it ever awkward?"

"Yeah. Sometimes. We really had to force the chemistry too, but with you.. everything was so natural.. it was weird." Joy confessed.

"Yeah. I remember a fan asked me how we had so much chemistry and I didn't know what to say, I guess it just happens." James laughed nervously.

Joy felt her stomach flutter, and decided she really needed to eat.

"I'm starving!" She said suddenly, causing James to laugh.

"I don't understand how a tiny person like you can eat so much and stay so damn skinny!" James said.

Joy stuck her tongue out at him, "Are you implying that I'm fat?"

"What? No! I said-"

"James, chill, I'm kidding. You're too serious. Lighten up a bit." Joy advised with a small smile.

"Right. I forgot you had a sassy side to you."

"Of course I do!" Joy smirked.

"So what about you? What's new? I saw you in Dexter the other night. Congratulations!" James said.

"Oh thanks. I mean it wasn't a big deal, my character got killed off."

"Aw." James pouted. "Thank god Shwahn never killed you off of One Tree Hill. I don't know how I'd do it without you."

"I know! I would never leave you, or the rest of the cast. I love you guys too much!." Joy said seriously.

"So how's your album coming?" James asked.

"How'd you know?"

"I saw your tweets, and I may have listened to your song, 'Please'. It's seriously amazing."

Joy blushed, "Thanks. I had a lot of inspiration for it."

"Well it's amazing. You've always been such a great singer." James complimented.

"What do I do to deserve such sweet compliments from James Lafferty?"

James didn't do anything but just stared into her eyes.

"What?" She asked self consciously.

James quickly looked away, "Nothing.. never mind."

"Come on! Tell me!" Joy whined.

James inhaled sharply and looked back at Joy. "I've really missed you."

"Me too. We really need to stay in touch! Nothing's the same without you anymore"

James suddenly scratched the back of his head, "I know, as soon as I move to LA, we can definitely get together more."  
Joy smiled and held at her pinky. "You promise?"

James grinned, and connected his pink to hers, "Promise."

"Good." Joy agreed. "So when are you moving?"

James ran a hand over his face, "Well right now I've been in Chicago promoting my new movie, but Eve is in New York to model, so I guess when there's an opening in our schedules we'll move."

At the mention of Eve, Joy felt her heart constrict in her chest. "Oh.. that's good."

James shrugged, "I guess so."

Joy instantly sensed something was wrong by the tone of his voice. "What's going on Lafferty?"

James smiled sadly. Joy somehow always knew when something was on his mind. "I don't really know how to express my feelings."

Joy just looked into his clear blue eyes and could sense the overwhelming sadness. "Just say what's on your mind." She advised.

"Well Eve and I have kind of been on the rocks lately." James said quietly.

"Really?" Joy asked with sympathy in her voice, and the slightest bit of happiness.

_Happiness? What?_

"Yeah the whole distance thing is really taking a toll on our relationship. We broke up like 3 times over the past five months, but she always comes back and we say we'll change, but honesty it's like a repeating cycle and I'm getting tired of it." James sighed.

Joy gave him a sympathetic smile, and took his hand in hers. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know. Plus, she's a lot younger than me. I want to eventually settle down, but I don't think she's the one for me. Sure, we have fun, and she makes me happy, but it's not what it used to be like. We just want different things."

"I know how you feel. That's part of the reason Michael and I broke up." Joy said.

James ran a hand through his hair, "A part of me thinks it would be best if we go our separate ways, but the other part of me says that she's the best I'm going to get."

"So you're staying with her because you think there's no one else?" Joy asked.

James nodded, "Yeah I guess."

Joy smiled, "That's so far from the truth!"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see all of the women out there who are obsessed with you? Seriously, I'm sure there are girls who would kill to date you." She laughed.

"Yeah but those girls don't know me. They want 'Nathan Scott' and I'm not him." He said solemnly.

"You're better." Joy stated proudly.

James looked up, and felt a giant smile stretch across his face. Joy was always his go-to girl when ever he needed an uplifting. She always made him feel better, and she always understood him- sometimes better than he understood himself.

"You think so?" He inquired.

"I know so." Joy confirmed. "You're the kindest, smartest, funniest, bravest guy I know. It helps that you're not too bad on the eyes either." She added with a wink.

James gave her a crooked smile, but it then turned into another frown.

"Now what's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"I wish more women were like you."

Joy bit down on her lip, "What do you mean?"

"You're just- extremely intelligent, so insightful, and just amazing. You have something about you that makes everyone like you, and it's extremely inspiring. Your smile is infectious, and you laugh is the best medicine." James said truthfully. "You're one of a kind, Joy."

Joy smiled, and couldn't help but blush. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you these past few years. You made me a better person."

Joy chuckled, "Are you quoting Nathan?"

James rolled his eyes, "No, I'm being serious!"

"Well what about Eve? She's a model!"

James laughed softly, "Yeah, but we don't have conversations like this. With Eve, it's mostly just parties. I like that, but I'm also pretty laid-back. I wouldn't mind just going to the beach and relaxing all day, but she never wants to."

"Well does she put work into the relationship, or is it mostly just you?"

"It's mainly me. Sometimes I don't even know why I still fight for it. And she's always flirting with other guys right in front of my face!" He revealed with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Can I tell you something?" Joy asked.

"Of course."

"You can do a lot better."

James shrugged, "I guess... I just want someone like you."

Joy's heart rate started to pound. "Someone like me?"

Before James had a chance to answer, he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He glanced down and groaned. "Speak of the devil..."

Joy smiled, "Answer it."

James ran a hand over his hair, and clicked the button the answer. "Hello?" He answered.

Joy sat across from him and took the time to check him out. James was a few years younger than him, but not by much. She wasn't going to lie that she was extremely lucky he had been casted as her television husband. She got to look at him and his gorgeous body, so who could complain about that? He definitely got more mature since the last time she was with him. He also got more muscular, and he started to grow out his hair, which she felt was a good look for him. Especially the five o'clock shadow.

"Yeah, my plane landed about an hour ago-" James continued to talk into the phone. "I know, I'm sorry I should have called you sooner. I thought you were asleep... Right now?... I'm at a cafe... with who?... Joy, actually... No, Stewart ditched me... relax, we're just catching up... I know, Eve... I know... No... Yes... Eve you're being ridiculous... I don't care... No, I'm not... I'm not doing that Eve... She's my best friend... You know what? I'm not having this conversation with you right now... I'm tried of this!... Whatever... Are you serious?... Is this because I'm at a cafe with her?... Fine!... I don't care anymore Eve! I'm done with this bull shit!... if that's what you want fine but don't call me tomorrow and expect that I'll take you back because this is it... Are you drunk?... Call me later... Are you seriously breaking up with me over the phone?... Okay... yeah... I gotta go... no... I'm being serious. If this is over don't call me anymore... Yea and while you're at it, go have another one night stand like you did the last time we broke up... Bye."

James quickly hung up and threw his phone across the table, as he slammed his fist on the table.

"Dammit!" He screamed.

Joy looked up from digging in her purse, and frowned. "What happened? Is everything ok?" She rushed out.

James inhaled deeply, "I don't even know what just happened. I think we just broke up-"

"Oh James, I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine." James cut her off. "It's for the better, right?"

"Is it because I'm here with you? I know she never liked me-"

James laughed, "She was just jealous because I have more chemistry with you than her."

"Funny. That's what Mike said about us too." Joy revealed.

James smiled, "Everyone says it."

"You know, I always was in denial about it, but honestly, I think everyone's right, We just have a natural chemistry, and I can't help it." Joy said in a shy voice.

"I know. I denied it for a while too. Especially when I knew you were married. I literally had to remind myself that we were just acting and everything was fake." James gushed.

Joy smiled, "You had to remind yourself?"

"Yeah, I mean you're kind of easy to fall for..."

Joy flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Well thank you."

James rolled his eyes, "Don't let it get to your head, super star."

Joy crinkled her nose and laughed. "Shouldn't you be upset that your girlfriend just broke up with you? I feel like it's my fault-"

"Honestly... I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I've held a lot of things in throughout my life, and I'm tired of doing that. If I want something I'm going to go after it."

Joy smiled, "That's the attitude to have! Good for you!"

"I just really hope she doesn't come crawling back to me saying she wants to get back together, because I'm really done with it."

"Just sing her that Taylor Swift song: We are never getting back together.. like ever."

James chuckled, "You're such a freak!"

"But you still love me anyway right?" Joy said as she batted her eyelashes.

"You have no idea..." James muttered under his breath, but luckily Joy didn't hear him because she was in the middle of typing something on her phone.

"Would it be okay if I tweeted about you?" She asked with a sparkle in her eye.

"Sure. What are you going to say?"

"I don't know, maybe something like, "Good to catch up with an old friend #ParisStyle"

"Alright. I like it." He laughed.

She typed it on her phone, and immediately she had six favorites and thirteen replied.

"Damn, you're popular." James pointed out.

"I love reading what people write. They're so funny."

"They're probably like, "Oh em gee, Joy! I love you so much like oh my god, you're flawless!" James said with a coy smile.

Joy rolled her eyes,

"I'm serious." He said and grabbed her phone, "Look someone named "NaleyKramerFan" tweeted, 'You're perfect! I wish I was in Paris and could meet you. You're my role model!"

Joy smiled, "Aw. That was sweet."

"Should we reply to her?"

"Yeah. That would be nice."

"Okay I'll say, 'Maybe one day we can meet! xox' I bet it will make her day!" James pointed out.

Joy flashed her pearly white teeth, "Aw you're such a nice guy."

James shrugged, and smiled, but he then frowned when he saw a tweet pop up. "Uh oh."

"What?"

"Eve just tweeted, 'Good Luck and Good Riddance... #I-Hit-It-First'" James said sadly.

"I'm sorry James."

"It's alright. I'm stil in shock honestly."

"You'll be okay." Joy promised.

James took a long swig of his coffee, and continued to look at the tweets on Joy's phone.

"That girl we just tweeted said 'Oh my god, I can't believe you just tweeted me! I love you so much!"

"Aw. We have the best fans." Joy smiled widely.

James kept scrolling through her twitter feed and laughed.

"What?" She asked.

"Someone just asked if I was the one you were with."

"What'd they say?"

James smiled, " LucyLove123 said Oh my gosh! I'm praying you're with James! My dreams may be coming true!"

Joy laughed, "People really like us."

"Well I mean how can they not? Naley is the best." James said with a cheeky smile.

"Obviously." Joy giggled.

"Hey, I have an idea." He smirked.

"Uh oh. What's that?"

"Do you want to get the fans really excited?"

"It depends. What are you going to do?" Joy asked.

"I'm going to tweet #NaleyReunion and take a picture of us. It will get them going crazy!"

"You think that's a good idea?" Joy asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

"I don't know. What if people start speculating things.. especially because you and Eve broke up like three minutes ago..."

James smiled, "Let them think what they want." He shrugged.

"Alright. Let's do it." Joy smiled, and James got up to sit in the booth next to her.

"Okay, smile!" James advised, and held out his iPhone in front of them. He put his arm around her and flashed his dazzling smile. "3...2...1.." He counted, and then clicked the camera button, A few seconds later he clicked on the picture and showed it to Joy.

"Aw! This is cute!" She gushed.

"Tweet it?"

"If you dare." She laughed,

"Alright, I'm going to say 'Catching up with the beautiful BethanyJoyLenz in PARIS! #FWTP #NaleyReunion'" He smiled, and typed eagerly on his phone.

"That's sweet! I'll retweet it."

"I'm sure we're going to put a punch of teenage girls in cardiac arrest." He laughed.

"Imagine we told them we were dating..." Joy said before thinking.

James blushed and quickly took his coffee cup and drank from it. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just laughed.

"Do you think your boyfriend will be mad?" James asked tenaciously as he clicked the blue 'tweet' button.

Joy furrowed her eyebrows, "You mean Wes-?" She asked, and before James could answer, and bunch of fans came running over to them,

"Oh my gosh! Are you James and Bethany from One Tree Hill?" A blonde hair girl asked.

James looked over at Bethany and smiled. "Yeah we are. Are you guys fans?" He asked the girls who looked like they would pass out.

"Oh my gosh! Yes! I love you! You guys are so adorable!"

Joy and James both laughed, "Thank you."

"Are you dating in real life?" A tall black haired girl asked.

Joy bit down on her lip, and blushed a crimson red. "No, we're just friends." She said trying to not sound sad.

James let out a deep breath at the word 'friend'. He's been referred to that for almost ten years now, and for some reason he didn't really like it. He wanted to be more than that.

_Wait what? I think I'm really tired. I did not just say that... She has a boyfriend, and I think me and Eve just broke up... Oh god... I think I'm still in love with Joy... Get a grip James... She's never going to like you... forget about it..._

"Aw! Well I think you should!" The blonde girl gushed. "It's been my dream ever since I started watching One Tree Hill."

Joy just smiled, and James gulped hard.

"Can we get your autograph please?" The black haired girl asked shyly.

"Better yet, about a picture?" Joy proposed.

"Seriously? That'd be like amazing!"

"Sure, I'll ask the waitress to take a picture." Joy said, and huddled into a group of girls, and James had his arm around her. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and she had to remind herself that they were just friends.

The waitress finally came over, and took numerous pictured of James and Joy with their fans.

"Thank you so much!" The blonde girl gushed. "You made my life!"

"No problem." James said sweetly. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too! You guys look eve better in person!" The black haired girl gushed.

Joy and James once again laughed, and hugged their fans farewell.

"That was nice." Joy commented.

"Yeah." James said quietly.

"Are you okay?" Joy asked as she rubbed her hand up his bicep. Any excuse to touch him, she took the chance.

James felt his stomach flop like a fish out of water at the contact with Joy. "Huh?" He asked.

"You seem like your in another world. What's wrong? Is it the Eve thing?"

James smiled softly, "No, I'm really not even upset about it. It feels like we've been broke up for a while. I haven't seen her in a month."

"I'm sorry." Joy said once again, and sat back down in the booth.

"It's okay. Everything happens for a reason right?"

"Right. That's the attitude to have." Joy said positively.

James glanced down at his phone and smiled.

"What?" Joy asked taking another sip of her tea.

"I got two thousand retweets, and 1,246 replies on our tweet." He said in a shocked voice.

Joy laughed, "What are people saying?"

"They're mostly asking if we're dating and if we aren't that we should."

Joy blushed, "Everyone wants a real life Naley I guess."

James laughed softly, and proceeded to read the comments. "Look someone said that they're crying because they'r so happy."

"You were right. Everyone is going crazy." Joy chuckled.

"I'd do anything for the fans. I would't be here if it weren't for them." James said seriously.

"I know. We've come a long way, but I wouldn't change anything for the world."

"Neither would I." James said as his voice cracked.

Joy and James starred at one another for what felt like centuries, and in that moment- a small French cafe, on a Wednesday night, a table right by the window, where they can see the Efile tower- something happened. It was in explainable, but it was like they were the only two people in the world, The city of Paris- otherwise known as the city of Love- seemed as though it had cast a magical spell on them.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Joy suddenly asked.

James was broken out of his trance and blinked. "Okay, let me just pay the bill-"

"James, you don't have to do that." Joy said.

"I want to." James smiled, and Joy felt her insides melt.

"Okay, if you insist." She said in a weak voice.

James pulled out his wallet, and slapped the French money he converted earlier onto the table.

He swiftly stood up and pulled on his jacket and baseball hat.

Joy also slid her arms into her black pea coat and quickly buttoned it.

"You ready?" James asked and stuck out his arm for her to intertwine hers in.

"Yeah, thanks for paying."

"No problem." James replied casually, and held the door open for Joy and made it out onto the streets of Paris.

"It's truly beautiful here." Joy said breathlessly as she let the cold October night air hit her cheeks.

"It sure is." James said as he looked into her welcoming brown eyes.

Joy's heart rate pounded furiously against her chest, and her stomach got that feeling again. For some reason she didn't think it was because she was hungry.

_I think I have butterflies... _

"Have you ever been to the Efile tower?" Joy asked.

"No, but I've always wanted to go." James revealed.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Joy chuckled, and led him to the bright tower of lights and beautiful architecture.

Joy and James looked up in amazement and blissful smiles spread over their faces.

"Wow." James breathed.

"It's so amazing isn't it?" Joy gushed.

"Can you take a picture of me standing in front, please?" James asked.

"Sure. You always take such nice photo's! They're always popping up on my instagram."

James smirked, "Thanks, but it's the magic of photo editing."

Joy clicked rapidly on the shutter button and James smiled.

"All set!" Joy said and handed him his phone. "Do you mind if we take a picture together? I mean I kind of want to post one of this so called 'Naley Reunion'." Joy revealed witha coy smile.

"Sure, should I ask one of those security guards to take it?"

"Yes please!" Joy answered, and James made his way to a guard and handed the muscular french man her phone.

"Can you take a picture of me and my friend please?" James asked, and the man seemed to understand and nod.

"Thanks." James smiled, and ran back to Joy and hugged her.

"What are you doing?" Joy laughed wildly.

"Posing for the picture." James said and squeezed her gently.

Joy blushed, and blew a kiss at the camera.

The man took the picture, and games put up his index finger to signal that he wanted one more.

He then leaned down and placed a light kiss on Joy's cheek. The man smiled and took another picture. Joy felt her cheek was on fire, and her heart sped up faster than it ever had.

James pulled away and ran to retreat the phone. "Thanks." He said appreciatively, and went back to Joy to show her the picture.

"I like this one the best." He said to the one referring to the kiss on the cheek.

"Me too." Joy blushed, and lokoed up at James who was starring at her. Her stomach flipped once again.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" James whispered.

Joy blushed and looked away from his fierce blue eyes. "No..."

"Well it's true. You're so beautiful Joy, and I just want you to know how lucky and fortunate I am that I have got to work with you for the past ten years. You're amazing, and I wouldn't want to be anyone else's Nathan... if that makes sense." He said in a nervous voice.

Joy blushed and wrapped her arms around James for a warm hug. She rested her head against his muscular chest. "You're the sweetest! Thank you so much" Joy whispered and squeezed him more.

James ran his hand up and down her back and sighed deeply. "I'm serious Joy. You changed my life, and I care so much about you."

She could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest, and pulled away to look up at him. Joy looked up and starred into his crystal blue eyes.. Her palms started to get sweaty and she felt like she couldn't breathe. She didn't want to deny it anymore, but she could feel herself falling for him. "I care about you too." Joy revealed.

James sighed, "No, I mean I've always cared about you. I guess what I'm trying to say is..I need to tell you something." He said as his voice cracked, "But I don't know how you're going to take it, and I don't really know what to say."

"What's going on?" She asked nervously.

James took a shaky breath, and placed his hand on Joy's cheek. "When I was eighteen, I had the biggest crush on you." He said and laughed nervously.

Joy furrowed her brows, and smiled softly. "You did?"

"Oh yeah. It was really bad." James blushed, "I told you, I really couldn't control myself. I'm not usually that shy, but when I was around you I just.. I didn't want to say anything because I was afraid that I would just start rambling on about how much I like you. I tried not to like you, and I reminded myself that we were just friends, and co-workers and none of the feelings are real, but I came to the point where I couldn't deny it anymore. Every time I was around you I just froze. You made me so nervous. You were so beautiful, smart, kind, and outgoing. But the thing was that you were always older than me. I know you always called me 'Baby James' and I pretended not to care, but it would always get me upset because it was another reminder that we would never be together. And then when you started dating Michael, I had to tell myself I really needed to push whatever I was feeling, away. I didn't want to be that selfish guy who ruined everything all because I had a crush on you. Anyway, I would always love shooting the kissing scenes with you because even though it was just part of the job, it always meant something to me. I know you always said it was 'Haley' kissing 'Nathan' but sometimes I couldn't help myself, and I would be James kissing Joy. I wanted to keep kissing you after they called cut, but I had to stop because I knew I would ruin everything if I did that. So going to work and acting with you was always the best, because that would be the best I would ever get. if the only way I got to kiss you was pretending to be Nathan, then that's what I would have to do. It's a really good thing I'm an actor because I really had to pretend I never felt anything for you. I also had to act like I was happy for you and Michael, but the whole time I was wishing I was him. When you got married, I knew that was the end of it. I would never be the guy to break someone up, so I just started to meet other girls, and try to ignore everything I've ever felt for you. I always tried to convince myself the feelings were just from being caught up in the moment but I knew deep down it was you I wanted. Not Haley. I tried to find someone like you, but it's impossible, so eventually I just settled for the first girl who showed interest in me, and I knew I had to get over you. But while I had other girlfriends, I always felt like I was cheating on them, because the feelings never really dissipated. So what I'm trying to say is that I really, really, really like you Joy. Like, a lot." James finished with a deep breath, and noticed that Joy had a small tear slowly rolling down her cheek.

He took another deep breath, and wiped the tear away. "I'm sorry... I've been holding that in for ten years and I just really needed to tell you. I hope this doesn't change anything, because I really need you in my life." He said breathlessly.

Joy was honestly speechless. She never knew James felt that way. After the initial shock had wore off, she did something she never had expected to do. She jumped up, and kissed him. It was different this time, She could feel it the moment her lips touched his. There was no holding back. She eagerly pushed her tongue against his lips and he granted her entry immediately. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer to her.

James was completely in shock. He had no idea Joy would kiss him- not that he was complaining or anything, but he sure as hell did not expect that reaction. If anything, he would have thought she would slap him or something.

He was in a complete daze. He had wanted this for such a long time. They very rarely used tongue during their kisses during filming, so this was definitely a gift from God. Joy was such an amazing kisser. He would kiss her forever if he could. The kiss was extremely passionate, and he felt it right down to his toes.

Sparks were flying between them like fourth of July fireworks. Joy couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy. She had often longed to Kiss James again- especially after the last rain kiss that they filmed.

James smiled against Joy's lips.

_I've wanted this for so long...I can't believe this is actually happening! _James thought.

She was getting even more into it, until James expectantly pulled away.

Joy cocked her head in confusion, "What's wrong?" She asked sadly.

"You have a boyfriend! Oh my god! We shouldn't have just done that! God! I'm so stupid!" James rushed out.

Joy just simply smiled, and let out a small laugh.

"Joy! How can you be laughing? You- We- Oh god- we just kissed! You kissed me and you have a boyfriend!" James said breathlessly, and felt like he was going to pass out.

"James, relax." Joy said calmly. "I don't have a boyfriend."

James sighed in relief, "But what about that guy Wes? I always see you with him..." He said sadly.

Joy smiled, "Wes is my best friend."

James scowled, "Well I hate him."

Joy giggled, "Are you jealous?"

"I mean.. maybe a little." James shrugged offhandedly.

"Well you have nothing to worry about because we only pretended to date." Joy said. "We both needed publicity, and actually he.. um.. plays for the other team if you know what I mean."

"Wait?" James smirked, "Are you serious?"

"Yea." Joy nodded, "I agreed to 'date' him because he wasn't ready to 'come out' yet."

James smiled, and suddenly laughed wildly. He then picked up Joy and spun her around. "You have no idea how happy that just made me." He said and pulled her face closer to his and kissed her passionately.

Joy wrapped her legs around his waist, and didn't care who was watching or taking pictures. She always knew deep down that James was the one for her. She had never felt more alive then she did at this moment.

After sharing a heated yet extremely passionate kiss, Joy jumped down from James, and held onto his shoulders for support. She felt her knees would give out any second.

"Just so you know.." Joy started, "I have a serious crush on you too." She winked.

"You do?" James asked with a dopey smile.

"I've always tried to deny my feelings for you, but once I got a divorce, I realized that I was holding back in my marriage because I always felt something towards you."

"Are you serious?" James asked.

Joy nodded, and grinned widely. "You, James Lafferty, are absolutely perfect."

"So what does this mean?" James asked.

"Well.. I was hoping we could be a real life Naley." Joy winked and smiled flirtatiously.

James smiled, and leaned in for another passionate kiss. "This is the best day of my life." He screamed, and Joy laughed humorously.

"I can't believe you always felt that way." Joy admonished.

"I thought it was obvious." James smiled, "But what I can't believe is that you have feelings for me.. I never thought you would."

"How could I not? You're incredibly sexy,kind, smart, funny, and one hell of a kisser." Joy laughed against his lips.

"God, I should have told you a while ago."

"No, this is perfect. We're in Paris. It's so romantic." Joy gushed happily.

James smiled, and pushed a dirty blonde girl behind her ear. "I've wanted this forever."

"I can't believe I've been missing out on you for all these years." Joy stated with a smile. "Everything I've ever wanted had been right in front of me all along."

James smiled and kissed her fiercely.

As if it were a movie, a small drop of condensation fell from the clouds above.

James laughed at how perfect this was. It was a dream... better than a dream, actually.

"Is it raining?" Joy asked.

"Of course it is." James laughed.

Joy threw her head back, and laughed happily. She had her arms around Jame's neck and spun around in a circle.

"This is actually perfect." Joy gushed. "Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted some amazing love story like this.. especially in Paris."

James smiled, "Well I can be your prince charming."

Joy laughed. "You're so cheesy."

"Well I have a feeling we're going to be a really cheesy couple." He flirted.

Joy rolled her eyes, "You better not be quoting Naley lines."

James smirked, "Don't worry, I have my own lines."

The rain started to fall faster, and both Joy and James were getting soaked.

Joy felt like a teenager all over again. She wrapped her arms tightly around James, and pressed a sweet kiss on his soft lips.

"I guess rain is 'our thing'" James whispered.

Joy nodded against his lips, and ran her hand through his wet hair.

"I'm team Jethany all the way." Joy whispered softly.

"Me too." James agreed with a smirk.

The couple stood in front of the glow of the Efile tower, and stood in the pouring rain as they shared a long, fiery kiss. Together they shared ten years of pent up feelings and poured it into the kiss.

"I love you, Joy. I've been in love with you for ten years." James whispered.

Joy pulled away and smiled, she looked at him with wide eyes. "I love you, too."

He then crashed his lips against hers.

Forget about Naley, this was real.

This was perfect.

This was sweeter than fiction.

_There you stand, ten feet tall  
I will say, "I knew it all along"  
Your eyes are wider than distance  
This life is sweeter than fiction_

Just a shot, just a shot in the dark (oh, oh)  
All you got, all you got are your shattered hopes  
They never saw it coming  
You hit the ground running  
And now you're on to something  
I, I, I say

What a sight, what a sight when the light came on  
Put me right, threw me right when you put them front  
And in this perfect weather  
It's like we don't remember  
The rain we thought would last forever and ever

There you stand, ten feet tall  
I will say, "I knew it all along"  
Your eyes are wider than distance  
This life is sweeter than fiction

There you stand, next to me  
All at once, the rest is history  
Your eyes are wider than distance  
This life is sweeter than fiction, fiction

I'll be one of the many saying  
Look at you now, look at you now, now  
I'll be one of the many saying  
You've made us proud, you've made us proud

I'll be one of the many saying  
Look at you now, look at you now, now  
I'll be one of the many saying  
You've made us proud, you've made us proud, proud

And when they call your name  
And they put your picture in a frame  
You know that I'll be there time and again  
'Cause I you loved when

* * *

**I have an idea for an 'epilogue' but I won't post it unless you guys really want me to. I'm super busy and barely have time, plus I need to finish 'I never told you' and work on 'Give Your Heart a Break' but if you really enjoyed this then I will post the second part. I don't want to because I'm scared of the reaction to this one, and plus I'm not sure if people will even read this so I don't want to waste my time.**

**Anyway, those of you who did like it, let me know. **

**And if any of you were at the One Tree Hill Convention in Paris, I'm soooo jealous of you, but I hope you had an amazing time :) **


	2. Cinematic

I'm back! Sorry it took so long. I've been extremely busy. I planned on having this up a long time ago. Anyway y'all are wonderful! I got so many amazing reviews and decided to make a few more chapters for this story because I love it! This is not the epilogue… I have a few more chapters left in store- I don't know how many. But I'll try to post whenever I get free time. Hope you like it!

*This scene takes place the night of the first chapter:

* * *

James and Joy eagerly ran towards the rainy street, and called for a taxi. The second the yellow vehicle pulled over, James held the door open for Joy to get in, and he immediately followed in after her.

They told the driver their destination and Joy instantly straddled James's lap and attacked his lips with her own. She let out a loud content moan. There was no way she would hold back. Not after nine years of holding everything in.

James ran his hands through her damp hair and eagerly used his tongue to probe around her mouth. It was very rare they used tongue, and he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

"I love you so much." He whispered breathlessly against her lips.

Joy smiled and slowly ran her hand along his cheek. She loved doing that.

"I love you too."

Joy shifted on his lap trying to get more comfortable and James kissed her neck lovingly.

"You smell so good." He whispered.

Joy let out a breathy moan and scraped her nails in his scalp.

A minute later, the driver pulled up in front of the hotel and James threw a twenty dollar bill up front.

"Keep the change!" He called and practically ran out of the car, with Joy following close behind.

"Do you want to-" James started, but was cut off when Joy pulled his hand into the lobby and nodded eagerly.

"Yes!" She said loudly.

James chuckled, and walked over to the receptionist getting his hotel key and followed Joy into the elevator.

"Floor 23." He smirked.

Joy felt her knees go weak, and once they were in the elevator- luckily they were the only ones- she continued the assault on his mouth.

"God, I wanted this forever." James revealed.

"Me too." Joy said breathlessly.

The doors finally opened, and Joy intertwined her hand with James's, as they sprinted to his hotel room.

James fumbled with the key because Joy was sucking on his pulse point.

"Do I make you nervous?" Joy whispered sexily into his ear, causing James to groan in return.

He nodded- not trusting himself to speak, and finally the door swung open.

Joy pushed James against the door, and wrapped her legs around his waist as she could feel his erection pressing against her stomach.

James cupped her back side and started nibbling on her ear.

"You're so sexy." He breathed.

"Mhm so are you." Joy whispered as she ran her hands under his shirt and scraped his well defined abs.

James slowly walked them to the bed and gently placed Joy on the bed.

He slowly took his shirt off and Joy watched eagerly as he sexually pulled it off, revealing his muscles. She immediately felt her body temperature increase, as well as her heart rate. She licked her lips, and ran her hand through her hair.

"Oh my god." She whispered.

"What?" James asked nervously.

"I don't know what I've been missing out on all these years. I keep waiting for someone to call 'cut'. It's like a dream."

James smirked, "This is practically my dream every night."

"Well it's real baby." Joy said as she ran her fingers over his well sculpted body.

James closed his eyes tightly- reveling in her touch. "I can't believe this is happening."

Joy laughed seductively and pulled him closer to her to kiss him deeply.

James reluctantly pulled away and looked into her deep brown eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked tentatively.

He knew she had only been with two other guys. Her husband and her boyfriend in college. Unless she had been with others…

He didn't have that long of a list either. Only three other women. He didn't have a bad reputation like most people presumed.

"I'm definitely sure. Are you?" Joy asked even though she didn't need any confirmation considering his bulge in his pants.

James blushed, "Hell yeah."

Joy giggled and kissed his lips feverishly, but James once again pulled away.

"I want to be slow. I want to enjoy it. Trust me, I'd love to have it rough with you but I want the first time to be special. Okay?" James asked.

Joy could feel her tears of happiness forming in her large eyes.

"God, I love you, James Lafferty." She breathed, and ran her legs up his.

"I love you too, Bethany Joy Lenz." He smiled genuinely.

The next morning:

Joy's eyes fluttered open as the light shining through the hotel window temporarily blinded her. She smiled as she looked down and noticed a strong arm wrapped around her naked stomach.

She turned around and noticed James smiling at her.

"Good morning beautiful." He whispered.

Joy smiled dreamily. "Mornin'."

James ran his hand softly over her cheek and pressed a light kiss against her lips.

"How long have you been up?" Joy asked as she snuggled against his chest.

"Fifteen minutes. I was just watching you sleep. You're so sexy even when you're sleeping." He said in a husky voice.

Joy blushed, and pressed a long kiss against his soft lips.

"I was tired. You really know how to wear out a girl."

"We did make love four times last night." James said proudly.

"Mhmm. I thought that was just a dream." Joy giggled.

"It was better than a dream." James said unable to contain the wide grin on his face.

"It was perfect." Joy gushed.

"You're perfect." James whispered and kissed her sensually.

* A few days later:

"Ladies and Gentleman, please put your hands together for James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz!" The french announcer called out, and stood up from his chair as he, along with the audience, clapped loudly for the actors.

James walked out from behind the stage as his arm was clasped around Joy's lower back. They decided that they didn't want to hide their relationship, but they agreed on wanting a little while longer before telling the world they were together.

Joy met the MC with a polite kiss on both cheeks, and James shook his hand respectfully. The couple then sat down on the couch across from the MC and James placed his left arm around Joy's shoulders.

"Thanks for coming. For those of you who don't know, my name is Pierre Freeman, and today we have James Lafferty and Bethany Joy Lenz on set with us today. James and Joy are both known for their roles as 'Nathan' and 'Haley', a beautiful couple on the show One Tree Hill." Pierre, the black haired MC said with a giant smile.

"Thanks for having us." Joy said sweetly as she leaned closer into James.

James smirked, "Yeah. It's a pleasure to be here."

"No problem, thanks for joining us." Pierre said as he cleared his throat and grabbed a bunch of index cards that had questions on them. "Okay, so let's get started. How are you guys today?"

James looked into Joy's eyes and smiled. "We're great." He said happily, earning a loud scream from girls in the audience.

Joy smiled and absent-mindedly ran her hands up James' muscular arm.

"So is this your first time in Paris?" Pierre asked as he took a sip of coffee.

Joy smiled, "Uh, no I've actually been here like five or six years ago. I love it. Paris is absolutely beautiful."

James nodded, "Yeah, I was here last year. I love traveling, and Paris is definitely one of my favorite cities." He said with a smirk.

"Yeah, James and I went to see the Eiffel tower a few nights ago. It was really great." Joy added happily.

Pierre, along with the rest of the audience smiled. "So you guys had like a 'naley' reunion?" Pierre pointed out, and the crowd's cheers grew louder.

James and Joy laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess you can say that." James grinned.

"So, I guess what pretty much everyone wants to know, is if you guys like hang out in real life. Everyone loves naley, and I have to say even I get excited when I hear or see people from a tv show hang out in real life." Pierre chuckled.

Joy bit down on her lip, and smiled boisterously,

"Yeah. I love hanging out with James. He's awesome. We haven't seen each other in a while though because our lives got so hectic after One Tree Hill ended, but we try and text each other and keep in touch."

James smiled and looked down at Joy, "Yeah, I would have loved to see Joy more but I lived in New York for a while where as she lived in California, so it was hard to stay in touch. But, actually, like last february Joy was in the city for a concert so I went and saw her. It was really nice. She's an amazing singer." James said with a proud smile.

Joy blushed slightly, and the crowd hollered.

"You definitely made some Naley fan very happy tonight." Pierre said

James squeezed Joy's shoulder gently, and smiled at his fans.

"Well I have to say, I'm a huge Naley fan myself." James shared, and Joy immediately agreed with a head nod and gracious smile, as the fans screamed a deafening shriek.

"Me too." Joy giggled, and looked into James' bright blue eyes. "Every season I would always flip to the Naley scenes in the script and see what was in store for Naley. I would beg Mark to make sure they always had a happy ending."

"And I would beg Mark to have a rain scene." James added with a suggestive smirk, earning himself a playful swat from Joy.

Pierre smiled at the obvious flirtation between the actors, and decided to cut right to the chase.

"So, my twitter had been blowing up with questions from the fans, and the number one question seems to be concerning your relationship statuses." Pierre said with a grin.

Joy bit down on her lip, and James ran a hand over his mouth, and chuckled. They shared a subtle look, and they knew they weren't ready to drop the bombshell that they were together just yet. After all, they only just admitted their feelings two nights ago. They wanted to have time to enjoy their new found feelings privately before everything went public.

But James decided he wanted to have a little fun with it, and keep the fans guessing, because dropping hints were always fun… especially seeing the crowds reactions.

"Well…" James began, "The thing is…"

"James is gay." Joy said trying to maintain a straight face.

James stood up and his jaw dropped, "What! No.. she's lying! I swear.. I'm not!"

Joy laughed wildly, as did the rest of the audience, and wrapped her arm around his. "I'm kidding. He's definitely not gay." She winked.

James blushed, and playfully shook his head as he took his seat. "Anyway, as I was saying before Joy rudely interrupted me," He gave her a pointed look, but it turned into a smirk, "I'm really enjoying living the bachelor life now-"

"Wait you're a bachelor?" Pierre asked, and girls started to scream in the crowd, causing Joy to giggle. She knew her boyfriend had a way with girls. How could you not like him? He is actually the definition of perfect.

James ran his hand along his stubbled cheek, and laughed softly, "Well I'm sure you have all heard the rumors that I have recently ended my three year relationship, and I would like to be the one to confirm it." He said in a monotone voice.

"What was the cause of the break up?" Pierre asked intrigued.

"We just went our separate ways." James said softly. "It was for the best." He added with a small smile.

"So you're single?" Pierre pressed.

James smirked, and rubbed his hands together, he let out a light chuckle, "I mean, you know-"

"He has a crush on someone. He told me." Joy added with a sweet laugh.

"Really? Anyone we might know?" Pierre laughed.

"I mean you might. She's quite beautiful actually." James said with a nervous smile.

"Does she have a name?"

"She does." James laughed, "But I don't know if I can tell you just yet. You'll have to wait."

The crowd started to boo, and Joy laughed at the pout forming on James' lips.

"Alright so does that mean you're dating this said girl?" Pierre inquired.

"I mean I just told her how I felt so I guess that means we're dating." James shrugged, with a wide grin. "Let's just say, I've been holding in my feelings for her for a long time. I'm glad I finally told her. That's one thing I learned this year, is to never hold anything back." He said with a proud smile.

Joy wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "James is like a giant teddy bear. I love hugging him." Joy giggled into her microphone.

Pierre smiled, and looked towards Joy. "So what about you, Miss. Lenz? Rumor has it you are in a relationship with fellow actor, Wes Ramsey."

Joy's face turned pale, and she softly bit on her lip. She totally forgot about that publicity stunt.

She could feel James tense next to her, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Um, well, Wes is my best friend." Joy said simply.

"I thought I was your best friend!" James pouted playfully.

Joy laughed, and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek, "You are too!"

"You can't have two best friends, Joy." James said matter of factly.

"Well then who's your best friend?" Joy inquired.

"Rob Buckley." He said with a grin.

"So then Wes is my best friend." Joy stated.

"I'm kidding you're my best friend- but only if I'm yours."

Joy playfully rolled her eyes and giggled, "Okay, fine you're my best friend. Now that that's settled, Wes is also one of my great friends, but we are not dating. Right now I'm just focusing on raising my daughter, and getting my career back on track. In fact, my mom, daughter, and Wes are all here today for a 'mini' vacation. They help me raise Maria, and I truly love them to death, but Wes is like my brother, so no I am not dating him. Sorry." She said with a small laugh.

"Someone tweeted today that they saw Wes and Maria today. Have you seen them yet?"

Joy shook her head, "No, I actually have not. I've been really busy going from one interview to another, so I'm excited to see them after this. I missed them. Especially my daughter."

"Yeah, I want to see her too. She's freaking adorable." James commented.

Pierre smiled widely and nodded, "So that brings me to my next question, James. A while ago someone asked you if you wanted kids and you said you didn't know. Have you made up your mind?"

James smiled softly, and looked at Pierre, "Yeah, well I am getting older now, so I have thought about settling down, and you know, having kids. It would be nice. I'm not in a rush or anything, but if and when I get married, I think I'd like one or two kids."

"I think he'd be a great dad. What do you guys think?" Joy asked as she peered out into the audience, and the crowd went wild, causing James to chuckle.

Joy giggled, and turned towards James. "No, I think you would be a great dad. Jackson Brundage loved you! And you were so good with the babies who played Lydia. Seriously, every time a baby was crying, we'd hand her to James and she'd stop crying. It was crazy. My daughter especially loves him. She always asks to talkto him on the phone. I honestly thinks she has a crush on him!"

James smirked, "What can I say? Chicks dig me." He joked.

Joy playfully rolled her eyes, and laughed softly, as the girls in the audience screamed and clapped loudly.

"No, honestly, I don't even know why everyone is obsessed with me. People always think I'm 'Nathan Scott' but I'm not. In some ways I'm like him, but I'm not him, and I think that's what people don't understand. Fans always associate me to be him, but if they knew the real me, I don't know if they'd like me…" James shared.

"Why not?" Pierre asked.

"I'm not good with words. When I act, I'm reading someone else's words, so it's easy, but believe it or not, I'm actually kind of shy."

Joy smiled, and patted him softly on the knee. "I have to agree with that. When I first met him- I'll never forget it- he was literally blushing as red as a tomato. He was so cute, and he was only seventeen. But anyway, Mark introduced us, and he's like 'Joy this is James, the guy you'll be making out with a lot- so get used to each other.'" Joy explained with a flirtatious smile. "He was so quiet at first, so I just introduced myself and when he finally cracked, and I got him to open up, he was actually a really interesting person, and we spent like five hours just hanging out getting used to each other."

James blushed lightly, and smiled as his eyes locked on Joy's small figure.

"Yeah, I remember that. I saw her for the first time and me being only 17 at the time- I remember thinking, 'Whoa, she's hot. This just made my job a hell of a lot easier' but she was older than me, and always called me 'Baby James' so, I would just get so nervous around her. I don't know why."

Joy smiled, "See this is why everyone loves you. You're adorable."

James chuckled, and playfully nudged Joy on her arm. "I'm serious though. It took me a while to try and not be nervous around you. Especially when I'd have to kiss you, I would freak out. I know technically it was Nathan kissing Haley, but deep down I was always worried I wasn't good or something. I don't know. I'm just really insecure." James said shyly.

Joy's heart melted at his words, and it took everything in her not to kiss him.

"Well you had nothing to be worried about." She winked, causing the fans to scream again, and Pierre laughed softly.

"So James, I just got a tweet from 'LucyLovesNaley' asking me if you ever had a crush on Joy?" Pierre said with a coy smirk.

James laughed, and ran his hand through his hair. "Okay let's put it this way. I was a young guy, she was extremely attractive, and I kissed her a lot. What do you think?"

The loudness of the audience increased, causing Pierre to playfully cover his ears, and Joy blushed profusely. Girls started standing up and cheering loudly.

"If this is their reaction to you saying you liked Joy, imagine what would happen if you guys said you were a couple!" Pierre joked with a playful smile, causing James to gulp inconspicuously. He had to be careful what he said, considering he didn't want to officially say he and Joy were together.

"I'm pretty sure any guy in my place would have been in the same position. I mean, how can you not like her? I'm not blind. Joy's gorgeous." James said genuinely, eliciting excited cheers from the crowd.

Pierre smiled, obviously pleased with the answer. "So what about you Joy, did you ever feel anything towards James?"

Joy bit her lip, and giggled girlishly, "Well I never knew he liked me, but if I did, maybe things would have been different, but I also told myself before I started working in the industry, that I would never date a coworker, because if we were to break -up it would effect my work, and Naley probably wouldn't have been the same, so in a way it's good that James and I never dated while working together. Plus, like he said, I always thought of him as like a 'baby' since I was older, but as we got older, I really loved watching him grow to be the man he is now. James is great. He really is. I'm so glad I was able to work alongside him for nine years, and I couldn't think of anyone else to play a better Nathan. I really admire him, and I loved watching him grow up. He really turned out to be a wonderful guy. I'm beyond proud of him, and I think we learned a lot from each other. I had a lot of fun on and off set. It helps he wasn't too bad on the eyes either." Joy said with a small laugh. "But if I don't say so myself, I think we made a damn good Naley. I'm team Naley all the way. I love us together honestly." Joy said with a playful glint in her eyes, and flashed the audience a dazzling smile.

James smiled, and blushed lightly from the compliments from Joy. "Thank you, Joy. I'm extremely humbled by your kind words." James grinned.

Joy wrinkled her nose, and hugged his bicep. "Have you been working out?" She joked and laughed with the crowd.

"I have actually. Thank you for noticing." He flirted back, and flashed his famous smirk, making not only Joy but the rest of the girls in the audience go weak in the knees

"Yeah that was definitely a perk of working with James. He's very fit." Joy said with a coy smile.

"She practically begged for me to take my shirt off." James joked.

"I did not!" She said flabbergasted and blushed a bright red.

"Don't lie Joy." James smirked.

"You suck!" Joy laughed.

"One time I heard you tell Mark the scene would be better if you took my shirt off." James said with a flirtatious grin.

"It would! I was doing it for the fans, and to enhance the scene."

"But you also liked seeing me strip." James grinned.

"Please, don't flatter yourself Lafferty." Joy smiled sultrily.

"Well I'm not going to lie, I didn't mind it when you would take off your shirt, although it rarely happened." James frowned.

Joy bit her lip, "Yeah well it's different for me. I was in a relationship, plus I was self concious of my body. I didn't have a six back like you."

Pierre suddenly intervened, figuring this would be a good time to move on the the next question. "So I'm curious. What was it like filming like 'make-out' scenes, or 'passionate love scenes?"

Joy and James shared a look, and James decided he would answer.

"Well, now that the world knows I had a crush on Joy, it was definitely hard for me to try and focus. It's easy to slip away in a trance and just go all out, but I had to remind myself that she was in a relationship and it was just work." James said in a professional tone.

"So was it ever awkward?" Pierre asked.

James shook his head 'no', "Well, the first time in season one when Nathan and Haley were about to make love, it wasn't awkward during the filming, but more so afterwards, because I was a teenage guy, and my hormones were crazy- let's just say sometimes I would get 'excited', and I literally had to hide behind a blanket so no one would see-, I really had to take control of myself and say that it was just work. But no, honestly, it wasn't. It was weird, it felt natural, but I guess that was just our natural chemistry. The minute they called 'cut' though, I had to snap back to reality and stay focused. Plus, there was always like an 'art' to filming the scenes. It's not like I could just go all out and have my way with her. The director told us what to do, and how to do it. So it's not like legit, y'know? But after a while we got used to it, and it was just natural. The directors pretty much told us to do what felt right, and we really had to bring our best work. We just worked so well together, so Mark was like do whatever you gotta do, just make sure it seems real. For me, I didn't even have to do much. Most of the time, I poured all of my feelings into the kisses. The hardest part was trying to get over Joy. Having scenes with a lot of kissing and stuff, it was hard for me to stop sometimes. There were so many times I really wanted to keep kissing her, and I had to pull away, because I didn't want to ruin anything, but it was work, so we didn't have a choice. Like I said though, Joy wasn't to bad on the eyes. I actually looked forward to work knowing there was a kissing scene. They were fun."

The crowd was going absolutely crazy. It was every Naley fan's dream. James Lafferty confessed he had feelings for Bethany Joy Lenz. Some fans were crying tears of happiness, and screaming with glee.

Pierre laughed at the reaction, and Joy was smiling despite the fact her cheeks were crimson red.

"What about you Joy? You were obviously married while your time on the show, did you ever know James felt this way?"

Joy shook her head, "No, I didn't. He was always very professional, and I really respect him for that. I think if he ever did tell me he had feelings for me it probably would have thrown me for a loop- especially since I was married. My husband was always envious of my relationship with James, because we weren't just coworkers, but I considered him to be my bestfriend. My ex husband very rarely was in Wilmington, and he always was afraid I would cheat on him because he didn't trust me, but I obviously would never do anything like that, but if James did confess his feelings I probably would have been forced to make a serious choice." Joy confessed honestly.

"Was James a reason for why you split with your husband?"

Joy inhaled sharply, "Um no, there were many reasons actually, but I'd rather not discuss them right now."

Pierre nodded understandingly. "Okay, no problem. Thanks for the answer though. So, moving on. 'AlwaysNForever23' just tweeted and wants to know how your first kiss on-screen was?"

James and Joy instantly let out a loud laugh, and James stood up taking Joy's hand with him.

"Why don't we demonstrate, shall we?"

"Oh God." Joy laughed, "Okay."

The audience watched intently as James and Joy reenacted the first time they ever kissed as Nathan and Haley.

"Okay, so we were practicing the scene, but no cameras were filming us or anything, and I wasn't sure if we were going to practice the kiss since it was just us and no one else, but Joy just went for it, but something really embarrassing happened so instead of telling it, we'll just show you." He explained, and groaned a little at the last part, while Joy just laughed hysterically.

James turned towards Joy and took a deep breath, as he recited his lines the best that he could.

"I just, I don't wanna be that guy anymore."

"Well who do you wanna be, Nathan?" Joy said with a playful smirk.

James playfully rolled his eyes and tried his best to stay in character. "I wanna be someone who's gonna be good enough to be seen with you."

"Well you should have thought of that last night because at this point there's nothing you can say or do that's gonna surprise me." Joy retorted.

James smiled, and just stood there silently.

"This is the part you're supposed to kiss me now." Joy said shyly, trying her best to reenact what took place a little over nine years ago.

James awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "Oh, uh...ok."

Joy grinned, "I brushed my teeth. It's okay, I don't bite." She said trying to lighten the awkwardness of the situation.

James laughed softly, and then swallowed the nervous lump in his throat, "It's just.. I… I don't really know how to do this…" James shared quietly.

"What? Kiss?" Joy laughed.

James frowned, "I've never kissed anyone on screen before. I don't really know how. I'm sorry I'm being stupid…"

"No, it's okay. I remember my first on-screen kiss. It was so nerve wracking, but it's not like it means anything, right?" She laughed.

James feigned a smile, "Ha, yeah."

Joy then leaned onto the tips of her toes, and wrapped her arms around his neck, "It's just like a real kiss, but not-"

James looked into her deep brown eyes and nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak.

Slowly, they leaned in and Joy's soft lips pressed against James, and they were both startled at the electrical current they felt course through their veins. Joy ignored it, but James decided to act on the unknown feeling. He pulled Joy's body closer to his, and swiped his tongue across her lower lip, and tried not to smile. Joy was shocked that James would be that brave, since she originally thought it would be a slow, sweet kiss, but James took it to a whole new level. Joy- being the professional she was- decided to slowly open her mouth and provided access for James tongue to plunge deeper into her mouth. James started to get a little carried away, and Joy knew she had to pull away otherwise she wouldn't be able to stop.

James's eyes opened, and filled with embarrassment. She knew she shouldn't have done that.

Joy bit down on her lip, and decided to say her next line to make it less awkward. "You shouldn't have done that… Nathan." She added quickly.

James's blue eyes bore into her deep brown ones, and took a deep breath. "I wanted to." He said truthfully even though it was just a line from the script.

Before Joy could jump up and kiss him again, James reluctantly backed away and diverted his gaze from her questioning eyes.

"I.. uh.. have to go uh to the bathroom." James rushed out as he tried not to choke, and instantly backed away from Joy, but tripped over his shoe lace. He quickly picked himself up- not once looking back- and ran off 'set'. Joy stood there laughing at James who ran away, but walked back onto the stage, with a bow, as the audience screamed louder than ever. The fact they got to witness a real life Naley kiss was a dream come true.

Joy clapped along with the fans and smiled as James blushed, and walked back over to Joy.

"So yeah that was the most embarrassing moment of my life." He shared.

"It wasn't that bad." Joy said trying to shed light on the situation.

"Yeah, well I guess now we can look back on it and laugh." James said with a shrug.

"The kiss was pretty damn good if I don't say so myself." Joy winked.

James smirked, and turned a shade of red. "It was. Why do you think I ran away? I was scared shitless. I've never felt anything that intense while kissing someone before."

Pierre smiled widely, "So what happened after that?"

"Well I ran into Mark and he said he saw the kiss and was extremely proud of my acting skills, but then I told him I wasn't acting, and I felt some weird spark when I kissed her, and he smiled. I'll never forget what he told me. He's like, 'Finding chemistry with someone is rare. I can tell you and Joy have something special, but it's up to you if you want to do anything about it. Just don't let her go. Whatever you're feeling towards her- channel it into acting. I know you guys were perfect to play Naley. Like I said- the chemistry between you two is extremely palpable.'"

Joy smiled, and wrapped her hand around his arm. "I never knew that."

James smiled, "Yeah, it stuck with me for all these years."

"So then what did you say?" Pierre inquired.

James smiled, "I said I was the luckiest guy on the planet and I freaking loved my job."

Joy looked down and frowned, "I wish I knew this sooner."

"So you never knew James felt this way?" Pierre asked.

"No, I mean back in season eight when we were all filming, the cast all got together and we were playing 'Never Have I Ever' at a Christmas party and someone said 'Never have I ever liked Joy more than a friend'' and James took a long sip of his beer, and shrugged. The whole cast was freaking out, and I remember Sophia screaming 'I knew it!' and I was just sitting there in complete shock because I literally had no idea. But at the time he was dating Eve so I figured his feelings for me dissipated. We never talked about it after that."

"Did anything change after that?" Pierre asked as he took a long sip of his coffee.

Joy shrugged, "I mean, I don't know. I guess it planted a seed in my head of like 'What if' but it didn't matter because I was pregnant with Maria, and James was in a relationship, so I was pretty much forced to push the thoughts aside."

"So James, who knew about your feelings for Joy?" Pierre asked as he turned towards the raven-haired actor.

"Not many people. I'm a private person so I like to keep things to myself, but I told my brother Stewart because I needed advice, and obviously Mark knew, oh- and my parents, and my grandma. Yeah, my grandma used to watch One Tree Hill and she always told me how much she loved Joy and how she wished I would get my 'shit' together and tell her how I felt. I never directly told my grandma about the way I felt but, some how she always knew."

Joy felt the tears forming in her eyes, and kissed James's cheek. "Aww. That's sweet." She gushed.

James smiled softly, "Yeah, it's funny though. She was the only one who told me to tell you."

"So what made you finally move on from Joy?" Pierre asked.

"Well it was around season five. She was married and I knew there was nothing I could do. I didn't want to be the selfish guy to break up someone's marriage because of my feelings, so although it took a long time, I eventually let go of the idea that something would happen, and I met other girls who helped me move on, or at least push my feelings aside, because I honestly don't think I ever actually moved on." James revealed, causing the audience to gasp.

"So what you're saying is that you still have feelings for her?" Pierre said with a hopeful smile in his french accent.

"It's not a yes but it's not a no." James smirked.

"And how do you feel about that, Joy?" Pierre turned toward the actress sitting fairly close to James.

"We've actually talked about it recently, and I'm honored. Like I said, James is an amazing guy. I'm really lucky to have him in my life." She said with a dazzling smile.

"Nice way to avoid the question." James whispered in her ear as he leaned down to talk into her ear so that only she could hear him.

Joy felt his hot breath on her ear and involuntarily got the chills.

Pierre smiled and nodded contently, knowing not to further press the question.

"Okay, so everyone is dying to know about your new album, 'Your Women'. Can you tell us some information about it?"

Joy smiled sweetly, and blew out a relieved breath, thankful that she wouldn't have to reveal any more information about her and James's relationship.

"Well there are a lot of songs based on personal feelings. Most of them were inspired about my divorce, but there are a few songs about starting new relationship with a certain someone and what it would be like if I was his woman." She said with a slight blush.

"Yeah, I heard a few of her songs on the new album. She's really amazing. Joy's so talented, and I swear she gets better every time I hear her sing."

"How'd you hear them?" Joy asked as she turned toward James.

"You tweeted some previews, and I listened. I'm really proud of you. I should have told you sooner. Congratulations, really. You deserve it all." James said kindly.

Joy's heart melted at his words. Even though they lost touch, he still would read her tweets and take the time to follow her life.

Pierre grinned widely, obviously pleased with the crowds attention. They were truly going crazy.

"So will you be going on tour anytime soon?"

"You know, I really don't know. I'm going to try. I'd really like to, but it's hard because I'm not with a real record label, so I had to do it all on my own. Plus, I have a few acting gigs I need to try out for, but the biggest factor in all of this is my daughter. She's still so young, and I'd hate to lug her around all over the world."

James stared intently at Joy as she spoke, obviously captivated by her beauty. He just couldn't look away. He was mesmerized.

"Mommy, mommy!" A little voice suddenly called out, as everyone's heads turned towards the door where three year old Maria, as well as Joy's mom, and Wes all walked into the live interview.

Joy laughed as she saw her daughter running towards the stage, and her mom was running after her.

"And speak of the devil." Joy laughed loudly- obviously joking- as she stood up and embraced her daughter in a hug.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen her in a few days. I missed her like crazy." Joy said as she picked up her daughter and brought her over to the couch with James.

Maria obviously had no idea what was going on, or where she was, so she threw her arms around James and squealed happily.

"Yames! Yames!"

James held onto her protectively and kissed her forehead, "Hi cutie. I've missed you!" He whispered softly.

"Well unfortunately it seems we have run out of time." Pierre frowned, and Maria turned toward the french man, obviously afraid of the stranger, and James held onto her tighter, and gave her a gentle reassuring squeeze.

"We do have time for one last question from the audience, and the lucky winner was Mora from Seattle, Washington in America. Mora, please stand up, and ask your question for James and Joy." Pierre announced.

Mora- who seemed to be about 19, eagerly stood up and had a giddy smile plastered across her face.

"What was your favorite scene to film?" She asked, and James and Joy both smiled widely.

"You go first Joy." James nodded towards his girlfriend. "I need to think about mine."

Maria started to bounce happily on James's lap, and plopped a wet kiss on his cheek. James laughed lightly, and bounced her up and down on his knee. The three year old still had no idea of her surroundings, but no one seemed to care.

Joy looked over at her daughter and smiled, She ran her hand across her daughter's cheek, and kissed the top of her head.

"Well," she began, "That's a difficult question because I have a lot. It's hard to pinpoint one exact scene, but I really enjoyed the scene in season eight when James, Jackson, the baby who played Lydia, and I were all in 'Jamie's' room, at night and sitting on his bed. I thought that was a really sweet scene, but I have to say my all time favorite was the rain scene in season three. It was so much fun to film. I love the rain, and we got to run around in it. Plus, it was fun to try and cheer James up because he was completely miserable considering it was like 3 am, and we were cold- but I don't know why it was just fun." She said with a warm smile. "Although, come to think of it- I loved all the rain scenes-.." Joy laughed. " But my favorite episode though had to be the forty's episode. I love, love, love the forty's and it was so much fun to just like dress up and I loved how Naley had like their own little world, separated from everything else. I think everything worked out perfectly, and it was a different side of 'Naley' which was completely perfect and romantic. I just loved it."

James nodded, "Yeah that was a lot of fun."

"You made fun of me for being so excited! You called me a freak!" Joy laughed.

"I was joking!" James smirked and laughed alongside Joy. "I liked it. You were right though. Naley got a lot of great screen time."

"You just liked the rain kiss." Joy teased.

"Of course I did. Rain kisses are the best." James smirked which suddenly turned into a smile when he noticed Maria sleeping in his arms.

"So which was your favorite scene and rain kiss?"

"My favorite rain kiss was the last episode. My last scene was that actually, and it was truly the perfect 'wrap'. I got to end it with Joy and we danced around kissing in the rain which felt like ever but I didn't complain once. In fact, I wish it never ended. I loved it. I got choked up when Mark said the final cut. It was like nine amazing years of my life had ended. I was sad, but I'm happy I was with Joy. It meant so much to me." He said with a wide smile. "But my favorite scene is when I got to run out on the Bobcat court and wear a jersey. It was the coolest moment of my life. I felt like a real pro. My favorite episode though was season six episode 23." He said with a smirk.

"Wasn't that 'Leyton's' wedding?" Joy asked with a suspicious smile.

"Yup. Two words. Naley and Bathroom. Ring any bells?"

Joy's face flushed a crimson red, and bit down on her lip. "Oh my god."

"You gotta admit that was kind of hot." James grinned.

"Okay, maybe." Joy blushed.

"You looked pretty into it." James announced.

"I was just doing my job." Joy said in the most professional voice she could muster.

"Right, well, I had fun. It was definitely an out of character thing for both of us and I enjoyed it." James said with a sexy grin.

"Well speaking of wedding's, I thought the second wedding for Naley was really cute. I liked how it was a fairytale. And the vows were so sweet. James and I helped Mark write them."

"Really?" Pierre inquired.

Joy nodded, "Yeah, we wanted to make it perfect, especially for the fans. Naley deserved a cute episode. The ending was definitely dramatic."

James laughed, "It was so much fun diving into the water. It was freezing though."

"I was actually worried about him. Mark wanted to get a stunt double but James insisted doing it himself, and the fear in my voice was actually true." Joy revealed.

"Aw Joy, that's sweet." James said as he leaned over the sleeping Maria, and was about to place a kiss on Joy's lips but she reluctantly pulled away.

"You were worried about me when I had to pretend to drown in season 7."

"You were under there for a minute! Of course I was worried." James said loudly, causing Maria to stir in his arms.

Joy bit down on her lip, and rubbed her daughter's back soothingly. "Sorry, I know this is so unprofessional and I hate having my daughter in the spotlight but I'd hate to wake her up, she must be exhausted."

"No problem. We had a special guest today." Pierre laughed, and stood up to close the show. "Well it seems as time has ended. It was a pleasure for you both to join us. It was a lot of fun, and I wish you the best with your careers and lives. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time a the 'From Wilmington to Paris' tour. Thanks again for being here." Pierre announced causing the fans to stand up and cheer loudly.

James and Joy stood up and waved to the crowd, and Joy blew them all a sweet kiss.

James, being the dare devil that he was, leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on Joy's cheek, causing the crowd to scream even louder, and Maria woke up in a fit of tears. James frowned- gave the crowd a final wave- and quickly ushered Joy and Maria to behind the stage and he placed a reassuring kiss on Maria's forehead.

Joy hugged James tightly, and he handed Maria over to her.

Maria wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, but continued to look at James with wide eyes.

"You remember mommy's friend James right?" Joy asked softly to Maria who was rubbing her small brown eyes.

Maria nodded enthusiastically and reached out to try and grab James.

James looked at the little girl and laughed. "She's seriously adorable. She looks like you so much."

"Thank you." Joy smiled widely.

"Kiss! Kiss!" Maria clapped and giggled girlishly.

Joy looked down at her daughter and pressed a kiss on her daughter's cheek. "I missed you so much baby girl."

"Kiss!" Maria chanted and tried to grab James's face.

James laughed and bent down so he would be able to be closer to Maria, and he pressed a soft kiss on Maria's hair line.

She squealed with happiness, and reached her hands out to try and grab onto his shirt.

"Yames! Yames! Up! Up!"

James shared a tender look with Joy and he picked up Maria from Joy's arms and swung her around so he could have a better grip on her.

Maria ran her hands over his five o'clock shadow and giggled.

"You like my beard?" He chuckled as he looked at Maria.

Joy's heart melted at their interaction with one another. If she was going to date James, she needed her daughter to be okay with it, but she didn't have that problem.

"I like your beard too." Joy whispered sexily into his ear.

James smirked and wrapped his arm around Joy and leaned down to press a soft kiss on her lips.

Maria watched the adults kiss and screamed happily. "Again!" She giggled.

James looked at Maria and laughed. "If you insist." He smirked,and this time he pressed his lips against Joy's longer than before, but was interrupted when he heard someone clearing their throat.

Wes was standing behind James and looked over at Joy who was blushing slightly.

"Wow, you never greet me like that." The dirty blonde actor joked.

Joy rolled her eyes, and reluctantly moved away from James' grasp as she threw her arms around her best friend.

"I missed you! How was the flight?"

"I missed you too. It wasn't too bad. This little one slept for most of the time, and your mom made some new friends." He laughed.

"Oh god." Joy laughed, "Speaking of my mom, where is she?"

"I think she went to the bathroom." Wes said offhandedly. "So are you going to introduce me to lover boy?" He chuckled.

Joy blushed, and took James's left hand in hers. "Wes this is James Lafferty. James this is Wes Ramsey."

"Hey man. Joy's talked a lot about you." Wes said winking over to Joy as he stuck his hand out and James shook it firmly.

"Really? Good things I hope." James said easing his tension.

"Oh yeah. She made me watch the show a few weeks ago and all she would say was how attractive you were. She wouldn't shut up. I have to admit you look even better in person. God job Joy!"

James smiled shyly, and looked over at Joy who was playfully glaring at Wes.

"Well it's nice to meet you." James said politely.

"You too. So are you guys like an item?" Wes smirked.

Joy bit down on her lip in attempt to suppress her giant smile, but it was no use.

James looked down at Joy and gave her a questioning look. He didn't know if she wanted to tell people just yet.

Joy then leaned on her tip toes and placed a short kiss on his cheek. "We are, and I've never been happier."

"Seriously? You've been gone for two days and you're in a relationship! What else did I miss? Don't even tell me you got married." Wes joked.

Joy playfully rolled her eyes, and hugged James tightly. "No, but he told me he loved me in front of the Eiffel tower, and then it started to rain and we kissed, and it was just perfect." Joy gushed.

Wes smiled happily, "I'm really happy for you Joy. I know you've been wanting this for a while."

"She has?" James inquired with a suggestive smirk.

Joy blushed, "Yes, I have. I always had feelings for you James, I just always denied it but as soon as Mike and I started having problems I knew it was you that I wanted."

"Well I'm truly honored." James said with a smile.

"I could tell just by your on-screen chemistry that you guys were meant to be. Congratulations." Wes smiled.

"James thought we were dating, so when he kissed me he felt really bad." Joy laughed as well as Wes.

"You told him the truth though, right?" Wes asked once he finished laughing.

Joy nodded, "Yeah, otherwise I would have given him a heart attack. He was so cute he thought I was cheating."

James playfully rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright laugh it up. I was trying to be a good guy."

"You are a great guy." Joy said tenderly. "I love you."

"I love you too." James smiled and leaned down for a sweet kiss.

"Aw you guys are cute, but seriously Maria's right there, you should probably get a room." Wes said half joking.

"Yames! Yames!" Maria giggled, and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"How does Maria know you so well?" Wes asked.

"I used to bring her to set all the time, and he'd always take care of her in between sets. Maria's usually so shy around new people, but she took to him right away." Joy explained.

"You sure Mike's her real father?" Wes joked.

Joy chuckled, "Unfortunately."

"Maria's the best." James said with a cheeky smile. "Right, squirt?" He said in a baby voice looking at Maria.

Maria smiled widely, "I miss-es-ed you." She said in her real baby voice.

James hugged her tightly. "I missed you too Princess, but I promise I'll see you a lot more."

"Yay!" Maria screamed happily.

A few seconds later, Joy's mom came walking over to the group and hugged her daughter.

Joy turned around and smiled, "Hey mom! How are you?"

"Oh I'm great! I have a bit of jet lag, but I'm excited to see Paris. Great interview by the way. Sorry Maria ran on stage, I tried to get her…"

Joy laughed, "It's fine I missed her. I missed you too. I'm so glad you made it!"

"So what was going on with you and James?"

"Mom! He's standing right here!" Joy said embarrassedly.

"Hi, Mrs. Lenz. It's nice to see you again." James said politely- trying his best to hide his nerves- and stuck his hand out to shake his girlfriend's mother's hand.

"It's okay you can hug me, I won't bite." She joked, and pulled James in for a friendly hug. "I'm great, thanks. How are you?"

James smiled, and intertwined his fingers with Joy's. "I've never been better." He said honestly.

Mrs. Lenz's eyes widened as she looked at her daughter's happy smile, and hand wrapped in James's hand.

"That's good to hear." Mrs. Lenz said in a proud voice.

"I haven't seen you in years. You've gotten so- so-" She was at a loss for words.

"Sexy." Joy said not even thinking twice. Once the words left her mouth her hands flew to cover her mouth and laughed. "I mean, he's gotten so mature, and muscular."

Wes and her mom both laughed while James stood there blushing.

"I always knew you two had something special going on." Mrs. Lenz pointed out. "I have to say I am very excited. I am a huge Naley fan. You make a very cute couple."

"Thank you Mrs. Lenz." James said respectfully.

"He's such a gentleman. I love it." Joy gushed.

"So how did this happen?" Joy's mom asked with a wide smile.

"Oh it was so romantic!" Joy gushed. "I ran into him in the airport and we decided to get coffee and catch up. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower and it started to rain and he told me he was in love with me."

James smiled, and bent down and pecked a light kiss on Joy's lips.

"Hey, I hate to leave like this but I promised a few old friends I would catch up with them for dinner downtown. Is that okay?" Wes suddenly spoke up.

"Of course!" Joy smiled. "Have fun."

"Thanks! I'll talk to you guys later." Wes said and hugged everyone goodbye.

"So James, how would you like to accompany us Lenz girls to dinner?" Joy asked with a sultry smile.

"You sure? I don't want to impose." James said reluctantly.

"Nonsense! I'd love to get to know my daughter's new love interest better." Mrs. Lenz said with a smile.

"Okay, well then I'd love to. Thank you." James smiled softly, and shifted Maria in his arms- who had no intention leaving that spot. She had her tiny arms wrapped around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder, with her eyes closed.

Joy looked at James and kissed him softly. "She really loves you."

"I was worried she wouldn't remember me." James whispered.

"I don't think anyone can forget a face like yours." Joy flirted with a sexy wink.

"You're killing me, Miss. Lenz."

Joy laughed, and squeezed his hand as the couple followed her mother, and a few bodyguards out to the street, unbeknownst to the fans who were secretly snapping photos of James and Joy holding hands.

* * *

Thoughts? 

xoxo


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